United boss Greg Abbott (GA) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) following Carlisle's 2-1 League One win at home to Stevenage, Abbott saying that the Blues are in a good place at the minute:
JP
You must be absolutely delighted, two wins on the trot?
GA
Yeah, we are good, we are in a good place. There has been an exceptional amount of work, absolutely exceptional amount of hard work done from everybody at the club to try to get the season moving in the right direction. We have said through the year and through the first half of the season we had our issues to deal with on the pitch with the injuries we had and off the pitch with the different problems we have been having. But, everybody at the club is putting in a shift to try to move the club forward.
We had 3,900 of our own fans, our own fans, there was about 50 from Stevenage if that. So, brilliant, we need them to come back, we need them to buy into what we are doing and we can’t do much more with the resources we have got. We think we are doing OK again and if we had been starting the season with this type of run we would be right at the top end of the league, I think that is 16 points now isn’t it off 8 games, which is a really decent return from our efforts, and I think it is well deserved.
JP
And also I think I am right in saying it is 10 points out of the last 12 isn’t it, is that right? It was 7 out of 9 I think it was before the game, but whatever it is it is really good form that you have found your way into, how have you managed to get this going with the team, how have you managed to get them so consistent?
GA
Well, a lot of that comes from within the group itself, every win, every point, every goal breeds more confidence and breeds less pressure and less fear. The crowd are starting to come here expecting us to get a result now rather than expecting us to go a goal down after ten minutes and wonder what we are to do when we are 2-0 down after half an hour.
So, we have turned things round to an extent, I think that is four wins and a draw in our last five games, so that is fantastic and that is what we want Brunton Park to be and that is the only thing that will bring the fans back. So, hopefully we get a little bit of credit, which I think is long overdue to the people that are involved out there performing and playing and improving. Listen, this season is far from over yet, we have 16 games to go and there are a lot of points to be played for.
JP
Goals are important, goals win games, but so do clean sheets, I know you didn’t quite get one today but you have conceded just two goals in four games, I mean that really is a difference from what we were seeing a few weeks ago?
GA
Yeah, I mean I would be coming up here absolutely buoyant today if we had kept the clean sheet. It is the only blip on the day was the fact that we let that goal in, because what that does, it spreads anxiety to the terrace, it spreads anxiety onto the pitch and we didn’t one of the shots that hit the bar, I think we hit the bar three or four times, the inside of the post, numerous chances to get the third goal.
Then we would have won the game really, really nicely and people would have been walking away thinking what a really, really good team. But, it is a little bit nervy when you have only got one goal and they are throwing things forward at the end. But, to be fair I thought we protected our goal really, really well today and apart from the one chance they had I don’t think Mark (Gillespie) has had a great deal to do. The disappointment is not having the nil against our name.
JP
One of the things that we talked about in the build-up to kick-off was making sure that it wasn’t after the Lord Mayor’s show following Tranmere, what a start it was for your team, they really came out of the traps well?
GA
Well, we have been doing that, the last home game apart we have been getting off to a flier, we have been getting goals early and we have put teams on the back foot. If we get momentum here and I think it is a first goal league anyway, whoever gets the first goal really does take an advantage. It gets our crowd relaxed and hopefully trying to enjoy their afternoon and everybody can breathe a little bit easier.
So, great start, credit to the players, they are the ones that have to get up for the fight. The atmosphere in here with 4,000 is not as good as it would be with 8,000 and sometimes you have to make your own entertainment and your own excitement and your own ambition. I think through the game today and through the last few games we have been trying to do that and slowly but surely people are starting to think, well the season is still a long way to go and there is something to play for.
JP
They have won two thirds of their games on the road, the fact that they are still four points ahead of Carlisle is built on that away record, how have you managed to keep them at bay today?
GA
Just by our performances and our play and our determination. We have competed with everybody now, take the Swindon game out of the last ten and we have really been close to winning every game and that is where we need to be. We don’t need to be out of games after 25-30 minutes which is what was happening earlier on in the season. But, the defence looks a little bit less forgiving at the minute, it doesn’t want to give too much away.
It was a poor goal today, like I said, the only blip on the afternoon because I think 2-0 or 3-0 today wouldn’t have flattered us today and it would have made it…….. Possibly getting the second goal and the third goal would have got us on to getting four and five, that is the way it goes. But, it wasn’t to be, but the key at this stage of the season is winning and getting three points and we have done that.
JP
It could have been four and five though couldn’t it, you hit the bar twice and the post once, I mean how unfortunate was that with (David) Symington twice and (Jon-Paul) McGovern in particular, I mean his shot that hit the bar, it was one of the fiercest strikes I have seen?
GA
Yeah, well there wasn’t too much up for debate was there last season for goal of the season, I think if a couple of them had gone in again today we would have a real competition on our hands. But, as a manager I am really not bothered how they go in, but it would have been nice to get another one, it would have been nice to get some nice goals and everybody walks away really, really happy. But, listen, I am a manager, I have won a game, I think we have got to go away encouraged and optimistic that we can push on and keep this little nice run going.
JP
Does the focus, well I suppose the focus now with the midweek game goes onto that one, but how hopeful are you that you can move quickly if you are going to be able to to get that cover in for Chris Chantler that I know you want?
GA
I think games and digesting this is the first and foremost thing in my mind and Tuesday comes too quickly for me to be talking about that. I have got two lads there carrying little bits of knocks at the minute, so that is where my attentions will be.
JP
Was (Rory) Loy cramp? We thought he pulled up and for one minute we thought hamstring, but was it cramp?
GA
Not fit, not fit Rory is he, still looks slow, sluggish, not full of match fitness and energy. So, I will have to get him training again tomorrow. He will be OK, he will be OK, the shift he has put in again today he will feel it Tuesday, he will struggle Tuesday, it will be a really tough night for him because he is getting that game Saturday-Tuesday thing that after a long time out really hurts. But, he will bath, he will swim, he will do his work tomorrow and hopefully we can get him ready, patched up and out again on Tuesday night.
JP
And he got the man of the match from the club, but also from Chris Lumsdon today, his performance in the way he earned the goal, scored the other, I mean it was a fantastic header, as Paul Newton pointed out people kind of lost how good that was because everyone thought it was going to be ruled out?
GA
Yeah, brilliant header, I mean we are right behind it and we think it is just going wide of the keeper (Steve Arnold) all the time, and we thought it was just going to go wide of the post. But, it has hit the net just in time before it got even further wide. But, listen, if Lummy is picking him for man of the match that will do for me, I am not so sure about our directors but Lummy’s opinion is absolutely spot on.
JP
And another person worthy of note there who would have edged it on another day was Jon-Paul McGovern, a contribution that is not always seen but I think people would have seen what he did today?
GA
Yeah, I mean we have got a lot of players that sometimes their contributions aren’t noted for different reasons. The fans’ view of things is they like to see the things that catch the eye, sometimes the industrious, the passing, the keep the game simple, it sometimes doesn’t appeal to people and that is where they think they are just the run of the mill players. But, Jay’s was a fantastic effort and that could have been goal of the season, shift up and down the right-hand side, keeps our shape, keeps our balance and generally puts in good balls when he is given time and space. So, brilliant.
JP
One thing the fans are already talking about, how quickly are we going to get Sean O’Hanlon tied down to a longer deal, because obviously in on a short-term deal, have you been impressed enough to think that direction so far with Sean?
GA
Listen, he is in to the end of the season, he is only the same as everybody else so it is something that we have got to try to work into taking forward. If it could be done it would be done, Sean is just now getting himself nicely settled in, playing his football, I will speak to him, if I can do something I would like to. He has been important to what we are doing, but there are other people in the same situation and in due course we will try to get round to all of them. But, yeah, I think he would be a nice addition to the club if we could do it.
JP
The reason is the fans are sort of feeling that people will have taken note that he is not finished, maybe one or two clubs thought he was, that is why they didn’t take the gamble on him that Carlisle did, so they are just worried that you are going to turn him into a good player again and then somebody is going to poach him off you?
GA
We have done it before, I might have done somebody’s good work for them again. I am powerless to prevent interest in my players but we like him here, he likes us, hopefully we can do something with him.
JP
Any other knocks then ahead of that game on Tuesday? You said that there were a couple in there, what is the situation?
GA
Just cramp for Rory and Thir (Paul Thirlwell) has got a dead calf, which doesn’t fill me with optimism because his calves are dodgy. But, we will hope it is a whack and not a strain, but knowing Thir’s history of that I am not too optimistic, but I will see how he settles down tomorrow and Monday.
JP
And you go to a Scunthorpe side who you know all about, you played them recently, on Tuesday, and you are looking for that third win on the trot in the league, I am sure you will be delighted that I brought that up?
GA
I am just looking to keep the performances going. We have got 16 points in the last 8 games. Now if you want to put any more pressure on me then you feel free, just heap it on. But, I think the players out there are dealing with most things that are thrown at them this season, and we just want to keep moving forward. It is not about me and wins and what I do, it is about the team and about what they do out there and how they are turning this season into something that might be quite exciting.